12 September 2017

Thera, Kolonna, and Mycenae in the Argolid

Other finds from Kolonna, Aegina, including Boar's tusk helmet similar to examples found in other Late Bronze Age sites

The Argolid

  • Additional views of Mycenae
    • Left top: looking up from the lower town
    • Left bottom: The remains of the Megaron
    • Right: Looking from the Megaron toward Grace Circle A, the Lion's Gate, and the lower town

  • Shaft Grave period at Mycenae: MH III - LH I (c.1650-1500 BC)
  • Grave Circle A
    • Generally richer than B
    • 19 men, women and children in 6 shafts
  • Grave Circle B
    • 35 men, women and children in 26 graves

Contents of the Mycenae grave circles on display at the National Archaeological Museum, Athens

  • Grave Goods from Mycenae in the National Archaeological Museum in Athens
    • Left: the "mask of Agamemnon," Grave Circle A Grave V
    • Centre: Child Burials, Grave Circle A
    • Right: Boar tusk helmet from Mycenae

  • Monumentalization at Mycenae
    • Grave Circle A incorporated into new city walls
    • Grave Circle B neglected, undercut by "tomb of Clytemnestra"
    • Lion Gate: pseudo-ashlar

Development of the Mainland Palaces

No true arch: corbel vault ("corbeling")

  • Mainland tholos tombs in the Argolid
    • Example of the so-called "tomb of Clytemnestra," Mycenae, c.1250 BC
    • Relieving triangle
    • Corbel vaulting
    • Undercuts Grace Circle B

Fresco of priestess [?] at Mycenae, c.1400 BC, at the Mycenae Museum

Frescoes from the West House in Akrotiri, Thera (Santorini), Late Cycladic IA